Red Bulls Under-23s Fall to Ocean City, 2-0, in U.S. Open Cup First Round

The New York Red Bulls Under-23 side fell, 2-0, to PDL squad the Ocean City Nor’easters Tuesday evening in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, NJ, eliminating the Red Bulls U-23s from the knockout tournament.

The hosts took the lead in the first half. A long ball played from goalkeeper Keasel Broome found Markhus Lacroix, who ran onto it and fired it in with his left foot.

Ocean City completed the scoring in the 56th minute. Frank Tweneboa had the ball on the right wing and crossed it into the box, where Nicolas Perea put it into the back of the net from close range.

The Nor’easters will face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL PRO) in the second round of the tournament. The 16 US-based MLS clubs, including the Red Bulls First Team, will join the competition in the third round, while the six NASL sides (second division) and eight more USL-PRO teams (third division) will debut in the second round. A U.S. Open Cup record 68 teams are participating in the tournament, all competing for the $250,000 grand prize.

The Red Bulls were one of three MLS teams (Seattle and Portland are the others) which had a U-23 team competing in the Open Cup.